Chapter 2

My mind was buzzing, completely stunned.

Averie was just as shocked, staring at me and then at Asher, her jaw practically hit the floor. "Wait, you two? What the hell?"

Asher ignored her shock. His deep eyes locked on me, as if he could see right through me.

He hissed through gritted teeth, "Five years, Chloe. You ran for five years, carrying my child?"

I glanced down at my flat stomach and then looked back up at his face, which was practically screaming, "You're dead". A sense of utter absurdity washed over me.

"No, wait, let me explain." I was so flustered that I was on the verge of tears. This was a massive misunderstanding.

"Explain?" Asher scoffed, stepping in closer. His presence was so intense I could barely breathe. "Alright, I'm listening. You'd better give me a perfect explanation."

He didn't finish, but his eyes said everything.

I managed, pointing toward my front door, "My daughter is kind of unique."

"Unique?" Asher raised an eyebrow, his eyes dripping with sarcasm. "Does she have three heads and six arms, or is she just born to be a troublemaker?"

Averie finally snapped out of it and leaned in, her face practically screaming gossip. "Yeah, come on, let me see my goddaughter already."

I was seriously about to lose my mind. Looking at these two, completely caught up in their own wild ideas, I knew there was no way out of this unless I actually brought Millie out.

I took a deep breath, bent down to pick up the keys from the floor, my hands trembling so badly I could barely get the key in the lock.

The door clicked open.

"Meow." A soft, sweet meow came from inside the apartment.

Then, a fluffy white ball of fur padded gracefully out from the entryway, poking her little head out. She had long, snowy fur and sky-blue eyes, curious about the three people standing at the door.

The air froze instantly.

Asher and Averie's expressions were so wild and colorful, it was like someone had dumped a whole paint palette on their faces.

I bent down, reaching out to my baby girl in the gentlest voice I could muster. "Baby girl, come to mommy."

Millie, my Ragdoll cat, let out a soft meow and gracefully jumped into my arms, nuzzling her fluffy face against my chin and purring contentedly.

Holding my soft daughter in my arms, I looked up at Asher, who was basically petrified, and managed to squeeze out an innocent smile. "Let me introduce you. This is my daughter, Millie Kane. Oh, wait, I mean Millie Sanders."

Asher's face went from pale to green, then to pitch black, like midnight. He looked absolutely furious.

He stared daggers at the cat in my arms, his chest heaving, veins bulging on his forehead. He looked like he was about to blow a fuse any second.

Averie was the first to recover. She pointed at the cat in my arms, then at me, laughing so hard she was practically gasping for air. "Chloe, you're unbelievable. My brother thought you gave him a daughter, but it's a cat. I can't stop laughing."

I stood there clutching the cat, so embarrassed I wished I could just drop dead on the spot.

This was peak social death. Nothing in my life had ever been more humiliating than this.

"Chloe." Asher finally spat out my name through gritted teeth, his voice so cold it could've turned the room into a freezer. "Are you screwing with me right now?"

"Nope." I shook my head like crazy, desperate to survive. "You're the one who jumped to conclusions. Who told you to snoop around anyway?"

"I jumped to conclusions?" He let out a sharp, bitter laugh, pointing at the cat in my arms. "You call her your baby girl? And you even gave her my last name?"

"She was always a Kane," I shot back, totally unapologetic. "You gave me this cat, remember? You said her dad was a Kane, so she had to be a Kane too. Did you forget?"

Asher just froze up.

He remembered that he really did say that.

Back when we were head over heels for each other, he scrimped and saved for two whole months just to buy me this cat as a birthday present.

I saw a flash of softness in his eyes, just for a split second, and for some reason, my heart clenched up.

But just like that, he was back to being cold as ever.

"Fine," Asher said with a nod. Then, before I could even process what was happening, he stepped up and snatched Millie right out of my arms.

"What are you doing?" I blurted out, totally freaking out.

Asher held Millie in one arm, and with the other, he casually brushed off some imaginary dust from his suit, flashing me a cocky, infuriating grin.

"Since she's a Kane," he drawled. "I get half the custody. Starting today, this cat's living with me. Consider it payback for all the headaches you've given me these past five years."

With that, he turned and walked away with my Millie, leaving behind a cool and infuriatingly smug silhouette.

"Asher, give Millie back," I yelled, chasing after him in a panic.

Five years gone, and he was even more of a pain in the ass than he used to be.